Georgian College’s RPNs talk work term experiences

Georgian College’s RPNs talk work term experiences

Headwaters’ CEO Stacey Daub sat down with 15 Registered Practical Nursing Students (RPNs) from Georgian College to talk about their work term experiences. They were joined by two clinical placement staff and the Program Coordinator for the PN and PSW program at Georgian in Orangeville – who are all Registered Nurses at Headwaters.

Most of the RPNs were in their final year at Georgian. By the end of their program, they will have worked up to 800 hours at Headwaters. Over ¾ of the students made our hospital their hospital of choice for the majority of their work terms.

Here’s some of what they had to say about their experiences with us.

What went well: They enjoyed the deep sense of community and culture at Headwaters; the mentorship was alive and well on the units with other professional staff, from nurses, physicians through to rehabilitation staff; they were never afraid to ask questions; the interdisciplinary teams were strong; they were able to see the diversity in the nursing profession and the free parking for students was a bonus.

What they’d like to see in the future? Extra education – from lunch and learns through to courses they can take on their own time, the more the better; there were suggestions about granting practicum students the ability to both assess and administer certain medications under supervision and they’d like to be able to leverage their training and time at Headwaters to start their careers here. Many were from the local area and want to stay local to work.

We wish them well and hope to see many of them back on our units as they start their professional careers in health care.